It is wrong and dangerous to approve plans for homes that cannot be defended from fire, cannot be evacuated, and will risk the lives of current residents (and taxpayers). Please ask the following questions, then vote “no” on development of “Trancas Town.”
Is there enough water and pressure for fire protection? No! Can current residents evacuate by Trancas Canyon Road now? No! Can you add more residents to evacuate by Trancas Canyon Road? No.! Is it safe to hook up more homes to the Trancas water delivery system that’s leaking, aging, and doesn’t meet current demand? No! If Trancas Town is developed, can storm water run-off safely disperse and not damage PCH or destabilize the Broad Beach bluffs and homes? No! When Trancas Town residents flush their toilets, can their wastewater be safely treated without building a sewer plant? No! Malibu became a city so we would not be sewered. Do Malibuites want sewer plants popping up with each new development?
Whatever you think of development, one common enemy faces all of Malibu-fire. Citizens’ safety must be the highest priority of the Planning Commission. I implore you to consider how inadequate Trancas Canyon Road is, how tenuous the water supply is and how decrepit the systems are for water delivery, wastewater and storm water run-off.
Development in the Trancas area cannot be done “in a void.” There are five construction and development projects impacting our area at the same time, adding to the challenge of feasibly evacuating, managing risky fire behavior, and protecting natural resources and infrastructure.
As president of The Malibu West Fire Safe and Sustainability Council, I will continue to urge focus on fire safety and infrastructure protection and planning that considers impacts cumulatively and comprehensively. Planning commissioners must put citizens’ safety first and that means a “no” vote on the Trancas development.
Cindy Vandor